I appreciate everyone's coaching. I am having a blast playing around with dough.

One more question, I am learning that the type of flour and even how the flour was stored makes a difference. Other than just trial and error is there any other way to know your dough is ready? Seems like you have to put it all together, rest it, mix it, then rest again before you really know if it is right.

I know the answer is probably a lot of time, experience and knowing what to look for but I thought I would ask.

Bert, with slower mixers, like standard hobart mixers with slow speeds, or italian fork mixers with mix times of 15-20 minutes (sometimes even longer), it is possible to feel or look at the dough while it is mixing to know when to stop it. With the bosch and other mixers where they only need 7 minutes or so, its a lot harder. The good news is that once you figure it out it will make a consistent dough each time if you keep all other factors the same (same flour, hydrations etc.). There have been times that at the end of 6 or 7 minutes in the bosch I have reached in to feel that the dough is really wet, and at that point I can add flour and mix for another minute or so. These have not turned out to be my best doughs, however, so starting a new batch is usually the best way to go for me.

I am wondering if you had put the flour in before the water on your first questionable batch. Was that the case?

I did another batch today using your advice. I took the hydration down to 57% and mixed for a little over 6 minutes. The dough is in its final 20 minute resting right now.

I did add .5 yeast because I want to use it tomorrow and I saw that you mentioned that on this thread at one point. Other than that this is the only difference.

I am open to other types of flours. When trying the Varasano method I was using 1/2 Caputo OO (25KG Blue Bag from PennMac) and 1/2 KABF. This was the best results I had so far in my experimenting but never got it to be consistent. If you have any other recommendations I am all ears.

I am having a lot of fun experimenting and have to say the Bosch is very easy to use.

Bert, .5 is still a lot of yeast. Make your dough balls right away and get them into the fridge asap. There is a chance that they will be over fermented by tomorrow night, but I could be wrong. Even if you go right into the fridge with your dough balls they may be doubled or more by the time you go to bed tonight. If that is the case punch the dough down and get it quickly back into the fridge. You also might want to turn the temp of your fridge down so it is colder than normal. With a very cool fridge you should be fine, but some people's run much warmer than others. Good luck.

1/2 and 1/2 caputo/kabf is a great combo, but the perfect flour really depends on your oven heat. If the dough is browning a little too much with that combo go to 1/3 kabf. If the pizza is on the tough side and not burning too crazy try going 1/3 caputo. Harvest king is an excellent flour, and I use it all the time too. Good luck!

I am cooking in a WFO. So far I like the 800-825 degree floor when I cook. I will start experimenting around with the flour mixes and the Bosch!

I appreciate your insights on how I should change the mixes due to the results I am getting. Your little tidbits will save me a lot of time. I would of never known which flour to increase or decrease due to the end results.